NFL Smart to Drop the “Hip Drop” Tackle

Drop The Hip Drop!

Yesterday Roger Goodell made a public declaration that the NFL needs to get the ‘hip drop’ tackle out of the league.

Fans cried.

I rejoiced.

This is a pretty simple decision to me, and the outrage is even more simplistic to grasp in it’s own right.

Let’s start with what defines a ‘hip drop’ tackle, as a means to grasp (pun intended) what the league is trying to get rid of: per NFL Exec, Troy Vincent, there’s (3) procedural moves that qualify a Hip Drop Tackle (HDT):

1. Grasp the offensive player
2. Drop your hips, and effectively go dead weight like your drunk buddy at last call
3. Roll the opponent to the ground… ankles and knees be damned

I’ll just stop right here to point out that this isn’t true technique. This is flat out lazy tackling. It’s the NFL version of a bully getting kicked in the nuts by his victim. This is a play that has a substantial increase in likelihood of injury versus a textbook tackle.

The reality is that the HDT hasn’t always been a common occurrence, is showing up more frequently, and has really just become an “oh sh*t!” means of tackling bigger and stronger offensive players than we’ve ever seen in NFL history.

(Except running backs. They’ve inexplicably gotten smaller. But big ones still exist, somehow. Weird position these days, no rhyme or reason in the wide world of split backs, but anywho…)

For grins & giggles, take a quick second to think about the build of offensive and defensive players in the NFL today…

Offensive skill players – and even toss QBs into the discussion – have gotten bigger, stronger, and faster. The prototypical wideout is jacked out of his skull, plays bigger than his frame, gets up there to rope in passes, and can wreck a defender in his YAC path (because rules say so).

On the flip side, defenders can’t play as physical due to rule changes, so what are we seeing to counter that measure? Less bulky, less physical, but speedy and lanky defensive backs. EDGE defenders are also relying more on speed and technique than pure brute strength these days.

Let’s do some math.

BIG SKILL PLAYER + itsy bitsy defender = notable mismatch in favor of the offense.

The defense needs to adjust to the mismatch in stature.

Thus? The HDT is becoming entirely too common of a solution to that problem for defenders, injuries be damned!

That’s it. That’s why HDTs are so damn common these days: because defenders have shrunk to better cover, and elude, and run, and as a result aren’t big enough to do their main job – getting ballcarriers onto the ground – on a consistent basis. So they’re resorting to any means necessary.

Problem is that those means also mean troubling injuries of offensive players, and in a league that’s driven by offense… that won’t fly.

So here we stand. A league seeing a litany of injuries popping up based on lazy tackling by players who are already at a disadvantage due to the penalty restrictions placed on them over the last decade.

Sucks, but is what it is.

As for the fan angst of it all… it’s like NFL fans forget the horse collar addition to the infraction list. Or the ‘crown of the helmet’ rule. Or the concussion spotter rule. Or the kickoff changes. Or the OT changes. I could keep going but you get the point…

The NFL knows fans will be pissed, but they also know that come Week 1 fans just kinda… get over it. They’re back to betting on games, playing in fantasy leagues, cheering for their home team, judging Tony Romo as an analyst, and mocking Bill Belichick for falling off the coaching cliff.

Ultimately, fans need to think about this move to rid the HDT from an NFL standpoint… they’re showing the players they care about their health (those same players who didn’t forget that the NFL was cool with CTE and concussions for the longest time). They may have a few salty defensive players speak out, but the have the entire offensive side of the league thanking them. They have the NFLPA giving them a nod of approval. The ratings will go up because more offense means more viewers and more gambling, and by extension, more gambling strengthens some of the NFL’s relationships…

Be salty. You’ll get over it. You always do.

The NFL is making the right move here for fans, players, and the league.